RichRod was a talented coach with the ability to recruit and win at this level. Schiano isn't. There are a bunch of others who aren't. Hoke isn't.

RichRod could and I think would have won here if we had all been behind him from day 1. We were all behind Hoke from day 1 and it didn't make a difference. Why show up and support mediocrity? To do so sends the message to the University and Athletic Department that we're fine with mediocrity.

...why would you take that risk in the first place? He was garbage in Tampa. Michigan has the resources to get someone considerably better than Schiano. If I'm Michigan, I stick with Hoke for another year and hope someone better is available before I go with Schiano.

I know Sarnia is interested in Downing (who wouldn't be?), and I know the Windsor Spitfires are interested in him as well. But I get the impression that Downing is quite a bit more committed to UM than Carrick was.

Another thing you have to remember is that a big selling point for Carrick was that he can attend UM on Plymouth's dime while he plays for Plymouth. Plenty of Plymouth players do it, and that's a big reason why Plymouth does so well getting top Americans without paying them the big money that other teams (allegedly) do.

It's not feasible to play in Sarnia and attend UM. UM fans are going to love having Downing in a UM jersey.

It's very doubtful that Skinner got anywhere near what Trouba was offered. CHL teams know they don't need to pay Canadian kids like they do American kids. Skinner most likely got the gold education package and that's it.

If you follow me on Twitter (@twharry), you've already heard all of this, so ignore. If not, this is what I found:

- Kitchener has no case under US law. The threshold as I understand it is that Slovin had to have believed what his source said was true when he wrote the article. If he did, then he's in the clear. Whether the allegations are true or not is irrelevant if this case were being heard in the US.

- Kitchener filed in Canada, so the above doesn't matter.

- Canada has some of the worst, most restrictive libel laws in the western world. The burden of proof lies with the accused, so the defendant is already assumed to be guilty going into the case.

- In Canada, you can be found guilty of libel or defamation even if what you said was true.

- Slovin's article adheres to the guidelines set forth by the Canadian Association of Journalists ethics guidelines, and that plays a role in determining whether or not someone is guilty of libel in Canadian courts.

- The Canadian Supreme Court's 2006 ruling in Hill v Church of Scientology of Toronto rejected the actual malice standard common in the rest of the English-speaking world. The court opined that there was no evidence that rejecting actual malice had any sort of chilling effect on Canadian journalism. It was a very unpopular decision (and rightfully so - under this ruling, whistleblowers could be sued) and Canadian legal scholars are trying to fix it.

- Canadian courts usually require affadavit proof of publication within the province where the libel is alleged. So unless the Daily is published in Ontario, I don't see how a Canadian court could have jurisdiction.

- None of the above really matters. Under the SPEECH Act, foreign libel judgments are unenforceable in US courts unless they are re-tried in an American court and found Constitutional. So Kitchener can sue Slovin/Daily and Slovin/Daily could choose not to fight the case at all, Kitchener could win the case and they won't get a single dime of the judgment because they would have to then bring the case before a US judge and win that as well. And under US law, I don't see how there's a case.

So why is Kitchener suing? I think there are a few reasons.

First, they're trying to find their leak. These stories keep coming out, and they want to know who is spilling the beans. I think they suspect Trouba's agent/advisor.

Second, I think they want to intimidate the media to keep them from reporting these stories in the future.

Finally, I think they saw a college kid and a student newspaper and thought this would be a cake walk. They bluffed by saying that they might sue, trying to get the Daily to retract. When the Daily called their bluff, they were too immature, petty and insecure to shake it off.

Charles and I had several classes together, and we worked on a couple group projects together, too. He was a great guy. A great guy.

Given my major, I knew a lot of the athletes, but Charles was by far the nicest, most considerate football player I knew. He was nice for a regular person, much less a revenue athlete.

I'll always remember him for the time I missed a week of Anatomy class preparing for the LSAT, and he had noticed I wasn't in class and took an extra copy of all the handouts for me. Just a class individual.

Hehehe, I'll never remember the look on his face as he was joking around with the skeleton's arm in his hand and I informed him that it was a real human skeleton, not plastic. It was as if he had seen a ghost. After that, he always had to sit on the other side of the class from where the skeleton was.

If you do a Twitter search for Drake's name, you'll see a ton of people who are genuinely sad that he's gone. He was that good a guy.